Scooter is sick - home now, pancreatitis confirmed

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Re: Scooter is sick - staying tonight @ the vets

It's a new day!
Here's to Scooter feeling better & he coming home very soon. ;-)

Let's us know when you find something out. (I know you will).

Jenn & Baxter


*Hey Ben, thanks for the pictures. You know how to lighten the mood. Scooter is so beautiful.
 
Re: Scooter is sick - staying tonight @ the vets

he is coming home today with clavamox and mirtazapine. he still won't eat on his own and vomited last night but he seems to be able to keep it down this morning so I will keep syringe feeding if it works. won't know the pancreas results until tomorrow so I hope we're not just making this worse by force feeding him. he's been getting his insulin too but I don't know if they've been testing him, maybe an infection in his mouth or something has been keeping his numbers up. his WBC was normal in December.
 
Re: Scooter is sick - staying tonight @ the vets

Thanks so much for the update Ry. Most of his results look like they're in the normal range which is good. Unfortunately I will have to look up the bad ones to know what they mean since I'm not knowledgeable about it. glad it was you that insisted on him staying over. That also is a good sign. I'm sending healing thoughts and good vibes his way. I hope you get some rest and it turns out to be nothing serious.

I love the pictures! He's so precious!

Hugs,
Melanie & Racci
 
Re: Scooter is sick - staying tonight @ the vets

I was keeping myself updated yesterday, and I wanted to jump in today and say that I hope Scooter gets better soon and that you guys are hanging in....healing vibes and good thoughts sent your way!!
 
Re: Scooter is sick - staying tonight @ the vets

We are home... he got a shot of appetite stimulant before he left, and the first thing he wanted to do when he got home was use the litter box and eat. Yes, eat. I say the day Scooter stops eating is the day the world stops spinning. I am so glad he's home and feeling better.

IMG_3287.jpg


He has Mirtazapine for 4 days and Clavamox for 14. Took him about 5 minutes to get the vetwrap around his IV hole off.
 
Re: Scooter is sick - he's home!

Ry

The mirtazapine is given every three days in pill form not sure about injectable I always gave pills, is that how they told you to dose him? Thats how its supposed to be given. Glad to hear he is eating and using the litterbox. Very good news indeed.
He is such a beautiful boy.

Terri
 
Re: Scooter is sick - he's home!

Ry, thank you for the update and especially for the pics. They really are worth 1000 words. That pic shows us all a "hungry kitty"! Pretty chaotic 24 hours, huh?

Carl
 
Re: Scooter is sick - he's home!

I had a heart attack Ry, for a moment I thought the subject line said he's gone. So glad that he's home again and into his food. I wonder if it is a dental issue (but I don't know that that would explain his meatloafing yesterday), if I recall he needs one but you haven't been able to get it done as yet. Vyktor had his done yesterday - seven extractions, including the fangs on one side. The vet was very surprised that so many needed to come out as he hadn't been able to see there were issues with many of the teeth until he got the plaque off.
 
Re: Scooter is sick - he's home!

Oh he's at home and doing great... eating tons, attacking his post, grooming himself... completely back to normal. Haven't checked his BG yet but his shot time is all weird now.

The biggest issue about getting the dental was transportation, my vet is a 20 minute drive out of town and I didn't want to have to take him on the bus... but, after what happened yesterday, I think I might start looking for a new vet. It's not that yesterday went badly, I just felt like honestly not a lot came from it, the bill was huge and we were just sent home like nothing had even happened. And I still don't know why he was prescribed the clavamox... I just felt like they didn't take my concerns for his health seriously at all, treated me like I had no idea what I was talking about... I didn't get a complete answer as to what happened yesterday. It was the complete opposite experience of when I went for his diagnostic visit and tests. I hate to say it, but I feel like I wasted DCIN's money...
 
Re: Scooter is sick - he's home!

hi all, results are in from the panel, scooters pancreas value (which one I'm not sure) was 8.5 so it looks like it was a pancreatitis attack although thankfully not a severe one. I'll scan the papers next week for the exact numbers.
 
Ry

Be careful for it to get worse at anytime. I don`t want to scare you but I went through two bouts of pancreatitis with my diabetic Lilly the second bout I had to have her PTS. Although it is treatable I was not able to pill Lilly at all and she stopped eating altogether. If Scooter stops eating or starts throwing up you need to get him to the vet pronto. He will need pain meds, probably appetite stimulant and IV fluids, not sure what else. Pancreatitis is painful and thats why they will meatloaf and mill around or hide.

Terri
 
Yup, keeping a close watch over him. His BG took a huge dive today, but he's acting like nothing ever happened... he slept with us all night and he's chilling out on the couch now. Scooter's ridiculously easy to pill, thankfully. I just stick it on his tongue and he swallows it, and I give him a shot of water afterwards to help wash it down.
 
Ry

He sounds like such a good kitty and now he sleeping with guys, thats great. :-D Hope all goes well and he keeps eating and so glad he is easy to pill. Will be watching for updates.

Terri
 
I'm so glad Scooter is feeling better! Do you have to give him a special diet that's bland or anything to ward off more attacks? I think I would look into that since he might be prone to another attack. Poor baby. It's such a joy to see the picture of him eating again. :smile:

Melanie & Racci
 
No I wasn't told to do anything different with his diet.

Poor boy, the diarrhea from the Clavamox has begun :( It's greenish and very smelly.
 
Ry & Scooter said:
No I wasn't told to do anything different with his diet.

Poor boy, the diarrhea from the Clavamox has begun :( It's greenish and very smelly.

Pancreatitis is very painful and so you need to keep 3 things on hand so that you can treat right away at home.
1. pepcid AC - you can give 1/4tab BID. if you see a bit of slipping appetite, you can try to give 1/4 tab and see if there is a bit of improvement in an hour or so.
2. pain meds - I kept buprenex on hand all the time because pancreatitis is very painful, as confirmed by humans who suffer from it.
3. SQ fluids - it's good to keep a fluid kit on hand as quite often, all it takes to scare away an attack is as little as 25-50cc fluids.

My Shadoe was always having issues; she's a gassy girl with an angry inflamed pancreas.

If I ever saw she was a bit 'off' her food, or acting picky, I would try with some forti flora on top first and if no good, I'd try the pepcid. Quite often it helped her enough and she'd eat a bit.
If still not working, I'd try a small bit of bupe, and it often took the edge off her discomfort.
As well, I would try a short session of fluids, and she always perked up like a freshly watered plant.

Eventually, I needed to give her the Pepcid BID, and her attacks were becoming more frequent.
My new vet had me start her on weekly B12 shots, and they worked wonders... no more attacks.
It's something to keep in mind if you find you are having the same issues more frequently.

So long as you watch for the signs, you can nip it in the bud at home.
Appetite slipping, try pepcid. Worried about dehydration, start souping all food to get more fluids into him. You can also test his scruff - lift up his scruff and if it does not snap back down quickly, rather slowly slides down, he's likely dehydrated and could use some fluids.
If you see he is also sitting in a ball, in a meatloaf type position, he may well be in pain and could use a small bit of bupe.

Some info from Cheryl/Winnie:
__
Most cats w/ p-titis flare experience a degree of nausea-- which could explain the inappetence. Although
pepcid can help in mild cases, it often isn't enough for nausea of p-titis.
I had great luck w/ ondansetron for kitties w/ ptitis and lymphoma. it is very inexpensive prescription med. it comes in either pill or injection. I had easy pillers, so I went that route. The *big* p-titis vets ( zoran,marks, scherk) all recommend its use. If your vet is unfamiliar, i would be happy to post the dosing ranges for you .
If there is vomiting -- then cerenia shots can really help. They can only be used so many days in a row though.
and to note, they can be used along w/ the ondansetron. ( and yes you can give the pepcid with both of them. )

If your kitty is not eating, appetite stimulants are often used.
mirtazapine is a very effective medication and only has to be dosed every 3 days.
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=2552

another commonly used med is cyproheptadine.
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_cy ... adine.html

note: appy stims will not work if your cat is nauseous.

There are also various ways to entice your kitty to eat. and that sounds like it is a problem ( although certainly the pred should help-- and getting rid of nausea and pain and appy stims :) more tools the better !
If you scroll down on the following link's thread you will see a post of suggestions for appy enticements:
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=26965

Pain control for p-titis is extremely important. buprenorphine is a med that is commonly used for kitties with this problem and is very effective. If your cat has p-titis it is generally assumed to be in pain. Sometimes the only way to know if treating pain will be effective is by trying. Please talk to your vet about this.
You can refer him or her to this by margie scherk, dvm:
Feline Pancreatitis: Underdiagnosed and Overlooked
Margie Scherk, DVM, DABVP (Feline)

Analgesia is of critical importance in the comfort of the patient, but also in the progression of the disease/inflammation through the negative physiological effects of pain. Pain causes disease and prevents healing. Even if obvious abdominal pain isn't present, use a "test dose" of 0.1-0.2-mg/kg oxymorphone IV to see if the patient improves over the approximately 6 hour effective period. If that is the case, then constant rate infusion of a narcotic may be considered or a transdermal fentanyl patch (DuragesicTM) for continuous relief. TorbugesicTM is not as effective for visceral pain as the opioid agonists are.

in other words, buprenex or fentanyl patches are best options for home care.

I would highly recommend B12 injections. they can be given in the fluid port or separately.
again very cheap. big bottle I pd only 5 bucks.
here is link from texas on that for GI disorders. The Lymphoma, IBD and p-titis vets all recommend.
http://vetmed.tamu.edu/gilab/research/c ... nformation
If any anemia is also present, I would also use a multi B vit injectable ( these sting so best w/ the subQs)
also inexpensive. There is not enough B12 in them for GI therapy. You don't have to worry about giving too much B12. Multi B's can also perk the appy.

denosyl is a powerful antiox and can help the p-titis and GI issues as well as be a prophylactic for a kitty who is in danger of HL from not eating. If the liver looks like it is an issue, then I would use the denamarin. Try to dose this as far apart from pepcid as you can. It has a thick coating and needs some acid for the thick outer coating to dissolve in the gut. We had a few whole pills show up in the LB. The folks at nutrimax suggested smashing the pill and giving immediately. we would lose a little potency, but enough and better than coming out whole ! just something to make sure you look for in the LB if you use denosyl or denamarin.

prozyme is a veg. based prebiotic and helps to break down food and ease digestion. i recommend that too.
and if there is diarrhea ( and with gi issues, some probiotic like culturelle or fortiflora can be of help )

The thing w/p-titis flare, is it really needs to have all the *guns* thrown at it to knock it down.

Sub Q Fluids are a key component in treating p-titis flares. (s. Marks, dvm has it on top of his list, as does scherk who states : "Therapy for pancreatitis is determined by the type of pancreatitis. Fluid therapy and pain relief are the cornerstones in supportive care. Sustain blood and plasma volume, correct acid-base and electrolyte disorders."

ETA: some links

Chronic pancreatitis (or does my cat have a pepcid deficiency?)
Pancreatic function
Idexx Treatment for Pancreatitis
 
Thank you, I will refer to all that info if I think it's happening again. For now he seems his perky usual self, but I have pepcid and mirtazapine on hand in case. I don't have anything for pain relief or fluids but I'll try to get something if/when I can afford it.

Edit: I ended up giving him 1/8 of a pill of Mirtazapine, at least to get him going for the next few days.
 
That's fine, and so glad to hear the attack has passed.

Just watching for signs and giving the pepcid and lots of water in foods will help a great deal!
 
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